Born on 25 February 1932, Tony Brooks started racing at the age of 20 in club events. His career really took off in 1955 when he made his Formula One début.

On 23 October, he won the non-championship Syracuse Grand Prix four months after his first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of an Aston Martin DB3S. Brooks remained loyal to the British marque in each of his four successive Le Mans starts. He rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest drivers of the day – Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Reg Parnell, Peter Whitehead – and also three former and future winners of the 24 Hours, Roy Salvadori, Paul Frère and Maurice Trintignant, Brooks’ teammate on his final Le Mans appearance in 1958. The ill luck that plagued Brooks in La Sarthe (four retirements) did not prevent him from chalking up an impressive track record in sportscar racing with Aston Martin. He won the 1000 km of Nürburgring in 1957 and, the following year, triumphed in the world’s oldest motor race, the Tourist Trophy.

He also competed in 38 World Championship Grands Prix between 1956 and 1961, winning six of them and recording ten podiums, three pole positions and three fastest laps. In 1959, he joined Ferrari and finished World Championship runner-up before retiring from the sport two years later, at the age of 29.

His talent earned Brooks the nickname “The Racing Dentist” in reference to his studies in the field, and which was also his father’s occupation. John Wyer, who worked with Brooks at the time when he ran the Aston Martin stable, considered him the most stylish racer and almost the equal of twice F1 World Champion, Jim Clark. When Moss died in 2020, Brooks became the oldest living Formula One winner. He was also one of the last big names of motorsport to have known the 1950s era at Le Mans, like Jean Guichet and Hans Herrmann, the oldest surviving 24 Hours winners who are now in their nineties too.  

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest extends its sincerest condolences to Tony’s family and loved ones.

PHOTOS – TOP: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HEURES DU MANS, 21 & 22 JUNE 1958. Tony Brooks at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBR1 shared with Maurice Trintignant, who had won four years earlier in a Ferrari (© ACO ARCHIVES)  – GOODWOOD REVIVAL (UK), CENTRE: Tony Brooks (second left) in 2013 with (from left to right) John Surtees, Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart. BOTTOM: Tony Brooks in 2017 at the wheel of a Formula One Vanwall that he drove in 1957 and ’58 (LOUIS MONNIER / ACO).